A new year for sky-watchers begins with Jupiter coming into opposition on January 10th. This means that Jupiter appears to us opposite the Sun in the sky, with the giant planet rising in the eastern evening sky as the Sun sets in the western sky. This also means that Earth is closer to Jupiter now than we have been in the last 13 months. Therefore Jupiter is and will be unmistakably bright all through the winter months.
Jupiter lies just below zodiac constellation Gemini and is 6 times brighter than the two first magnitude stars, Pollux and Castor, that mark the heads of the Gemini twins. Jupiter always provides a wealth of observable features. It dazzles to the naked eye and binoculars reveal its 4 brightest moons arranged around it. Sometimes there will be two on each side of the planet and at other times 3 on one side, one on the other. Watching over the course of several hours or on successive days will show this “dance” as the moons orbit Jupiter.
Though telescopes Jupiter’s banded atmosphere shows up with two dark equatorial bands and viewing patiently over time, many other shaded lines will emerge and shift as Jupiter’s atmosphere churns. The Great Red Spot near the southern equatorial belt, a huge long-lasting cyclonic storm may also be seen. Jupiter rotates in only 10 hours and 50 minutes so that its features shift rather quickly, only to return nearly as fast.
Meanwhile, Saturn remains a good sight this month now shifted over to the southwestern sky. It remains visible among the star of Pisces until just before midnight, when it sets. Telescopes reveal its rings still only open a few degrees to our line of sight, so they look quite thin.
But Neptune still lies along the same line of sight as Saturn so that using binoculars at Saturn and looking just above and left (around 11:00 o’clock on a clock face) we can spot a pale blue dot that will be Neptune.
Very early on New Year’s Day morning in the eastern sky, Mercury may be spotted 30 minutes before sunrise. Mars and Venus will not be visible in January as both are in conjunction with the Sun.
The mid-winter evening sky looking due south is the brightest over all the year, with 8 of the sky’s 20 brightest stars, along with dozens of bright 2nd and 3rd magnitude stars present. The constellations of winter are easy to spot with mighty Orion, the hunter, right in the middle. Below and left of Orion is the brightest star Sirius in Canis Major, the dog. Canis Minor, the smaller dog, is up and left of Sirius, and Gemini easily marked by Jupiter this month, is just above it. Near the top of the sky is Auriga, a large pentagon-shaped group, and down left and alongside Orion is the V-shaped head of Taurus the bull. All of these combine for a lovely sight on clear, cold winter nights.
January’s Full Moon is early in the month, on January 3rd.
Dennis Herrmann developed a life-long interest in astronomy at an early age and got his first telescope at the age of 12. Through his 43 years of teaching at Kent County High School he taught Astronomy and Earth/Space Science and coached track and field and cross country. He led and participated in numerous workshops on astronomy at the Air and Space Museum (DC), the Maryland Science Center, and the Mid-Atlantic Planetarium Society. He loves sharing and explaining the night sky to increase understanding and enjoyment of it to folks of all ages.
